04-13-2003 Day 30 (Sunday)

 Another restful day for Robbie. He has broken his fever and it is now running normal. His white blood cell count is still a little high but we feel the anti-biotic is doing its job. He will get another Cat-scan tonight to look at that fluid building in his head so will know more tomorrow.

Monday’s are always a busy day for him and us.

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-14-2003 Day 31 (Monday)

 Well not as busy today as we thought. His blood count and fever went back up a little. They tell us it will fluctuate. He did get his Cat-scan this morning. The neurosurgeons said they could see improvement in him, which is encouraging too. They are waiting for his infection to go away before putting the shunt in his head. Said maybe by the end of the week. We hooked him up to an MP3 player which seemed to calm him down. Any suggestions as to what music we should be forcing him to here? Wouldn’t it be fun to let him hear some real oldies over and over again instead of Metallica…. Or maybe it is a good time to brainwash him a little…. Little subtle hints like clean the house, pick up after yourself….. and things that we have always wished he had learned. We must be dreaming ourselves here…..

Feeling good that he is making progress,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

04-15-2003 Day 32 (Tuesday)

 I forgot to mention on last night’s email that Robbie is now Chest Tube Free. That’s right after having three of those things in him….. Which brings me to today…. For an hour and a half they took him completely off the vent and let him breath on his own. We were so glad to see and to know that he can breath on his own. He took it very well too, so tomorrow they will let him do it longer. They told us that in a couple of days he will have his Gall Bladder removed and next week they are looking to put the shunt into his head. Everyday there is something more that is positive in his long road to recovery.

Still hanging in there,

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell

Also just a reminder……. Today is tax day…….. so be like me and maybe start on it next week.

04-16-2003 Day 33 (Wednesday)

 Not much to report on tonight except they took Robbie off the vent and he will breath on his own now until they feel like he needs the vent again. He is really doing OK breathing on his own….. It looks like maybe tomorrow they will put a small drain in his skull to release that excess fluid. It will be a temporary drain until his infection is taken care of and they can do a permanent one. They are now going to wait until next week sometime to remove his Gall Bladder….. Found a Denny’s just outside the hospital limits so now we have another place to eat…. However Denny’s doesn’t have Happy Meals there…..

Another day at Parkland and We want to thank everyone at Parkland for the Great Care they have given Robbie so far.

John, Marleen and Karen Grinnell